Some Commuter Trains Returning Thursday

Vital NYC Link Crippled

October 31, 2012|BY CHRISTOPHER KEATING, keating@courant.com

GREENWICH — -- No trains, no business.

That is the problem for some of the businesses around the Greenwich train station that rely heavily on the Metro-North Railroad for customers. With the trains not running because of Hurricane Sandy, some merchants have seen a drop of more than half their business in recent days.

At the Greenwich Cigar Store directly across the street from the station, owner Ashok Sheth said that the trains affect him three ways.

First, the morning commuters to Manhattan dash into the store for newspapers, magazines, cigarettes or other items. Second, reverse commuters coming off the train stop in before they head to the nearby Geeenwich office buildings. Third, visitors arrive by train every day in Greenwich for business or pleasure.

The trains are scheduled to start running again Thursday, but Sheth said he does not expect an immediate return to normalcy. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has waived all rail fares for Thursday and Friday's Metro-North rail service, making rides into Grand Central free for the next two days.

"There's always a train every 15 or 20 minutes," Sheth said. "We lose that business. Today, it's very minimal. I hope by Monday there will be relief."

The doors to the train station were locked Wednesday with a notice pasted up by the MTA, which operates the trains and subways.

Adjacent to the station, at Planet Pizza, a popular eatery for both sit-down and takeout, owner Mike Rocco said he wants to return to normalcy, too.

"It's been a crazy week," Rocco said Wednesday. "You don't have the corporate action, but you have the residents [who cannot cook without power]. You're better off with a normal week. It's a weird week with Halloween. Tonight's supposed to be a good night, but it's not."

At 5 p.m. Wednesday, the Greenwich train platforms were completely deserted at a time that is normally busy. As times have changed over the past decade and Greenwich has become a major hub for hedge funds and financial companies, there are now more commuters coming into Greenwich on trains than there are commuters to Manhattan, according to state Rep. Livvy Floren.

James P. Redecker, DOT commissioner, said at a 4 p.m. news briefing that MetroNorth is assessing and repairing the tracks between Stamford and New Haven.

"There is hope that we can get some service back on Friday all the way to New Haven," Redecker said. He said they were trying to restore two of the three tracks between Stamford and New Haven.

For now, he said limited service between Stamford and Grand Central will resume on Thursday.

For generations, bigtime Wall Street bankers and middle-level executives have boarded the trains in Greenwich and New Canaan for the trek down to New York City.

The Metro-North Commuter Railroad has been the lifeblood for generations of Fairfield County workers who make their living in the New York City skyscrapers and return home each night to the comfort of some of the nation's richest suburbs.

But Hurricane Sandy dealt a huge blow to that lifestyle, stranding many commuters. As such, workers have made alternate plans with some staying home and others heading to satellite offices.

"They're not going in [to the city] to work,'' said Sam Romeo, a Greenwich native. "The roads are barren. The commuters aren't going into the city. The market just opened up. Most of them are working from home. We're just hunkered down here.''

Even for those who can get to Manhattan, getting around the city is difficult because the New York City subways are shut down because of extensive flooding -- particularly in the Wall Street area. Romeo had not heard any firm plans on running buses from the train stations to Manhattan. That still would not solve the problem of no subway service.

"If they get them there, then what?'' he asked. "Where are you going to go?''

Longtime Greenwich resident Edward Dadakis, a one-time commuter to Manhattan, says that many workers have stayed home or found other offices in the tri-state area. A senior vice president at the Aon insurance brokerage, Dadakis now works in Stamford after previously working at the World Trade Center before the Sept. 11, 2001. Following the terrorist attacks, Aon relocated its offices nearby along the East River in lower Manhattan.

"Our office in New York is at 199 Water St., adjacent to the South Street Seaport. That's been flooded,'' Dadakis said Wednesday. "We've got a lot of New Yorkers who are visiting our office [in Stamford] today. They drove -- a lot of people who live in the Westchester suburbs and New York suburbs. We have light and heat and Internet.''

Aon has about 1,000 employees in New York City, and many have headed to Stamford or another satellite office on Long Island.

"Everybody I know in Greenwich is still without power,'' Dadakis said. "I don't know anybody who tried to go into New York today.''

The New York Stock Exchange has major back-up generators, but the heavy flooding in lower Manhattan has knocked out plenty of businesses near Wall Street.